Hello Peter,
My name is David King, Patrick is my brother. I would like to speak with you and share some additional information about my brothers history.
I found nothing in your writings that I could claim is in error or misleading at all. To the contrary, I find your documentation completely scholarly, professional and well annotated. Truly outstanding work. I want to thank you for your efforts and for your publications. My hat off to
you as a great documentarian. You have done a superb job in every respect.
I was hoping to share what I remember about Patrick and the
events in Salt Lake City before he moved to San Francisco.
PRK: Do you have any photos or other material,
memorabilia to share?
DK: I was born in February 1954, my brother
Patrick is 18 months younger than me. That makes Patrick's B-day August 1955.
Patrick first
studied Kenpo Karate with Terry Arnell and Mills Crenshaw who both were
students under Ed Parker. Later he studied Tai Chi with John Jack Man, one of
Bruce Lee's teachers. Patrick took 1st place in kata at the 1969 (or
thereabouts) International Karate Tournament in SLC at the age of 14. He was
the youngest black belt too compete in an International karate tournament.
Mills Crenshaw organized the event in SLC at the Salt Palace. Ed Parker attended.
Patrick hitchhiked from SLC to SF and passed the Kaaba Clerk
House on the Corner of Page and Baker streets in SF. He saw the golden word
Thelema above the basement door and went up and knocked on the door.
He met Honey Bear (I don’t know the given name) and Israel. Honey Bear and Israel were in touch with Marcelo Ramos Motta in South America and
also Grady McMurtry ['Caliph' of the 'Caliphate'].
Patrick invited Grady to come to SLC.
By the time that Pat met Grady through the Kaaba Clerk
House, in SF, he was already deep into the literature. Grady recognized Patrick
as a scholar. He though the rest of the SLC group was pretty well read also.
[In 1977, Patrick King joined the American O.T.O. aka
'Caliphate' and was immediately made the Official Representative in the City of
San Francisco and personal 'Herald of the Caliph in the Outer'.]
Grady came to SLC several times, where I got to speak with
him.
PRK: Where exactly did you meet McMurtry, in a restaurant or a
personal home? If in a personal home, whose?
DK: At least twice in SLC we met at Joe
Frank and Corin Covington’s apartment at the apartment buildings called “the
West”. Another time we met at Jeff Price’s place. Besides talking about the war
and Aleister Crowley, these were all drinking and smoking events. Almost
everyone was drunk and stoned at these events.
PRK: With whom did your brother Patrick live
with at that time?
DK: Patrick was still living at home with
our family (myself, and Thomas our other brother). Our mother was interested in
H.P. Blavatsky, Eric Fromm, the Paracelsus Society and studied with Frater
Albertus. She introduced us to free thinking, and alternative points of view.
She studied personology, later behavioral genetics. The mapping of personality
traits to morphological features. That is, reading someone's character by
looking at their facial features. We all learned this skill.
Patrick, Thomas and I all read A.C., Israel Regardie, Timothy
Leary, Ram Das, Robert Anton Wilson, Lee Heflin and others along these lines.
But Patrick hid his sexuality from our family.
Before there was a Horus Lodge in SLC, there was the
"Church of the 4 Sided Triangle".
PRK: Please tell me more about the Horus
Lodge, what exactly was the Horus Lodge?
DK: The Horus Lodge was formed by folks who
were introduced to AC and Thelema through affiliation with the Church of the 4
Sided Triangle.
PRK: Have you ever been or are you still
interested in occultism, specifically Aleister Crowley and related topics?
DK: I try to read what I can. I studied
Philosophy in school. I focused on history and the method of science. I have no
rank in the O.T.O., the Golden Dawn or the AA or any other occult organization.
(Oops, I am The Grand Pubbah of the Church of the 4 Sided Triangle, Temple of the 3 Sided Square, <now defunct>).
Our Father was Harold Scott. He was a professor of biblical
history and Christian religion at Harvard divinity school. His papers are at the
Harvard Divinity School Library in Cambridge (Massachusetts).
PRK: What was the “The Church of the 4 Sided
Triangle”?
DK: “The Church of the 4 Sided Triangle”
was formed by Patrick King, Lonie Davis, Joe Frank, Corin Covington, Cell
Heidle and Jeff Price. It was intended to acquire the protection of the law as
a church for the group. I believe that it was registered with the authorities
in SLC as a formal church organization.
PRK: What was the objectives of the Church
of the 4 Sided Triangle? Was this a XI° type group?
DK: No, not an XI° — (read homosexual)
organization. It was really just to get tax status as a church. The plan was to
seek legal status for the sacrament of smoking marijuana. Peyote had just been
recognized as a legal sacrament for America Indians.
The SLC group included folks such as Jeff Price, Joe Frank,
Corin Covington, Lonie Davis, (who later married Glen, the owner of the Ancient Way's Book Store in Berkeley.
PRK: Please tell me more about these
individuals, just anything that pops up in your head.
DK: Joe and Corin were a couple. Patrick
and Lonie were a couple. All were interested in the writings of AC and the Law
of Thelema.
Patrick Lonie, Jeff and myself seemed to be the most
scholarly in the group.
I know that Jeff became involved with the O.T.O. Grand Lodge
Electorate group.
PRK: Who exactly was Jeff? And why did he
become involved in the Electorate group? Was he especially gifted, or simply
befriended with someone who helped him in this O.T.O.-group?
DK: Jeff Price was and is gifted
intellectually and musically. Don’t know much about his ascension into the
Grand Lodge or how he came to know [McMurtry's successor after 1985] William
Breeze, Fra. Superior Hymenaeus Beta.
PRK: How did all these people treat your brother? Was he fully
accepted? Was his homosexuality discussed? I ask because your brother noted in
his diaries that McMurtry didn't much like "weak sisters" in other
words homosexuals and that McMurtry was sort of homophobic.
DK: Patrick was a leader of the group in
SLC. He was lovers with several of the group, (I don’t know exactly which
ones). Homosexuality was never an issue within the group. Never was at a
discussion of it with Grady.
This is the group that Grady Louis McMurtry referred to as
the "little bees in SLC".
PRK: Grady McMurtry called the gay members of
the order "weak sisters": Why did he in your opinion allow Patrick to run a
homosexual branch of the O.T.O.?
DK: Grady was drunk a lot. When Patrick met
Grady, Patrick was not out of the closet. Patrick only came out after he left Salt Lake and moved to San Francisco.
Waldo Pasquala Willson (i.e. Pasq) was Patrick’s lover in
SF. He was also known as Fra. Dionysus. I believe that they worked magick
together, I have no specifics.
Patrick referred to the O.T.O. as an intellectual book club.
Academic one-upmanship was the favourite game. This was true in SLC of the
Church of the 4 Sided Triangle. I am quite sure that this is what attracted
Patrick and me. I am sure that this is what attracted Honey Bear and Israel at the Kaaba Clerk House also.
Grady McMurtry didn't seem to want to play, but it was clear
that he enjoyed the banter. The more obscure the reference, the better.
PRK: Did McMurtry actively encourage people to become member of the
O.T.O.?
DK: No, I never heard him say anything to
encourage anyone to join.
PRK: Why weren't you attracted to McMurtry's group?
DK: In SLC it wasn't Grady's group and I
was a member (of the Church of the 4 Sided Triangle). I liked to play "I
know more than you" also.
PRK: Did you ever hear of Llee Heflin (outside my article at
https://www.parareligion.ch/sunrise/xi.htm)?
DK: His book "Island Dialogs" was
always around. I never met Lee but Patrick did in SF. Patrick encouraged the
publication of the Thoth deck and played a small role. [Llee Heflin was
instrumental in the publication of the Thoth Tarot book and cards now so
popular and which have played so important a role in the birth of the
'Caliphate'.]
Note: SLC was the home of Frater Albertus and the Paracelsus
Society. This was a modern alchemical school. My mother attended. Many read his
book "The Alchemical Handbook".
EUROPE
[William Breeze,
successor to Grady Louis McMurtry as leader of the 'Caliphate' (this new American
O.T.O.), had offered the Grand Mastership of the XI° to Pasq Willson while they
were in Austin. Patrick King was offended that Pasq would even consider it, as
he still considered himself the 'true' Grand Master of the XI°, despite the
fact that the political climate of the time meant he was estranged from the
order. Until his death, he considered himself the Grand Master of the XI°, and
considered that there was no legitimate inheritor of the title.]
DK: McMurtry's successor, William Breeze
felt that Patrick was in his way vis-a-vis the Caliphate given his XI° status.
I have spoken with Glen Turner who claims to have been
present at W. Breeze's election, tells me that all were aware of Patrick's
claim to authority. Breeze was simply the least offensive to the electorate.
[William Breeze wanted Patrick King to give him the XI°, but
King refused. Breeze was furious, since he allegedly considered the XI° to be
the "Inner Head". It escalated to the point where King was going to
be expelled, for not giving the XI° to
Breeze.
Patrick King and his friend Laura Deerfield heard that Prague
was a cool place to go, and Patrick wanted to get out of the States for a while,
they both travelled to Prague. They originally intended to stay only a few
months there and then head east, eventually to China. They just ended up
staying in Prague for three years.]
After his expulsion from the O.T.O., Patrick was depressed
and asked his friend and lover Laura Deerfield to go with him on a whim. They
had little money and arrived in Europe broke.
PRK: Who exactly was Laura Deerfield?
DK: She was his lover and went with Patrick
to Europe and was staying with Patrick when he passed away. She described
living under a bridge with Patrick in Prague, CZ, during the winter months and
freezing as they couldn’t afford an apartment. I don't know whether she was a
member of the O.T.O. She clearly knew something about Sex Magick. She told me
that she and Patrick practiced Sex Magick together.
[Patrick King died on September 29th 1997 in Czechia of
complications due to a beating by the Czech police after a dispute with his
landlord. More details about those events can be read at https://www.parareligion.ch/sunrise/xi.htm]
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